“I’m our Airmen’s voice,” Chief Kriete said. “If Airmen have a concern that can’t be handled at the wing level, then that’s where my job begins. However, many of the issues that arise are able to be handled at the wing level.”

The Air Force’s enlisted corps is critical to the Air Force mission since enlisted Airmen comprise 80 percent of the force. “We have very capable Airmen who we rely on every day to get the mission done.

“One thing our Airmen have in common is their resilience,” Chief said. “Every day I watch them come to work to solve problems and do it better than the last time. Overall, our Airmen are talented, intelligent and technically savvy. I have to believe our Airmen have great values and are here for the right reasons.”

Resources are crucial to the command’s Airmen being able to continually accomplish the mission, so during these times of budget constraints, funding is a concern for some.

“Everyone in the Air Force is feeling the budget crunch,” Chief Kriete said. “We’re paying for a war. As a result, we need to continually look at the way we train, organize and equip. Every day we’re thinking of ways we can streamline processes and procedures. We need to be creative, but not at the expense of cutting corners.”

In addition to AFSPC working harder and smarter to help curb costs for the Air Force, the command is doing it while actively supporting contingency operations around the globe.

“Our mission doesn’t stop,” Chief Kriete said in reference to AEF commitments the command’s Airmen support. “Because of this, we have to prioritize. We need to ask ourselves what the mission of the day is and subsequently rank tasks in their order of precedence. Additionally, our supervisors need to recognize where needs are. Malmstrom’s leadership is doing this particularly well.”

“It takes all of us to fight the Global War on Terror,” Chief Kriete said.

625th Strategic Operations Squadron Activated at Offutt AFBJun. 14, 2007By 55th Wing Public AffairsIn a ceremony held today in the shadow of the Minuteman I Intercontinental Ballistic Missile outside USSTRATCOM Headquarters, Major General Thomas Deppe, commander Twentieth Air Force and STRATCOM Task Force 214 activated the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron. The 625th is a tenant unit on Offutt AFB and reports directly to 20 AF, located at Frances E. Warren AFB in Wyoming.

US Responds to Putin's Call for Meeting on Forces in EuropeMay 29, 2007By Al Pessin, VOA WashingtonA Pentagon spokesman says the United States would be "disappointed" if Russia stopped meeting its obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. The comment came the day after Russia called for a meeting of the treaty's signatory nations next month. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.